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Who’s At The End Of Your Road?

Connecting Points

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Today’s Topic: Who Will You Meet?

Today’s Text:Galatians 6:7 “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap”

A few months ago while attending the Moody Pastor’s Conference I met Daniel Henderson. He leads a ministry called Strategic Renewal, whose purpose is to ignite the passion of the church through prayer. Every week he sends out an e-devotional, and I was really challenged by this week’s and want to share part of it with you. It’s called “The Old Person at the End of Your Road”. Ladies, make the necessary gender adjustments as you read.

In the epilogue of my first book, The Seven Most Important Questions You’ll Ever Answer, I shared a reading that has marked me since the first time I discovered it many years ago. It is titled, “The Little Old Man.” The author is unknown but the insights will challenge you.

“You’re going to meet an old man someday down the road – ten, thirty, fifty years from now – waiting there for you. You’ll be catching up with him.

“What kind of old man are you going to meet? That’s a rather significant question. He may be a seasoned, soft, gracious fellow, a gentleman who has grown old gracefully, surrounded by hosts of friends, friends who call him blessed because of what his life has meant to them. Or he may be a bitter, disillusioned, dried-up old buzzard without a good word for anyone, soured, friendless, and alone.

“The kind of old man you will meet depends entirely on yourself, because that old man will be you. He’ll be the composite of everything you do, say, and think today and tomorrow. His mind will be set in a mold you have made by your beliefs. His heart will be turning out what you’ve been putting into it. Every little thought, every deed goes into this old man. He’ll be exactly what you make of him. It’s up to you. You’ll have no one else to credit or to blame.

“Every day and in every way you are becoming more and more like yourself. Amazing, but it’s true. You’re beginning to look more like yourself, think more like yourself, talk more like yourself. You’re becoming yourself more and more. Live only in terms of what you’re getting out of life, and the old man gets smaller, drier, harder, crabbier, more self-centered. Open your life to others, think in terms of what you can give, your contribution to life, and the old man grows larger, softer, kindlier, greater.

“The point to remember is that these things don’t always show immediately. But they’ll show up sooner than you think. Those little things so unimportant now – beliefs, attitudes, ambitions – they’re adding up inside where you can see them, crystallizing your heart and your mind and someday they’ll harden into that old man. Nothing will be able to soften or change them.

“The time to take care of that old man is right now. Today. This week. Examine his values, his motives, his attitudes. Check up on him. Work him over while he’s still plastic, still in a formative condition, because the day comes awfully soon when it’s too late. The hardness sets in worse than paralysis. Character crystallizes, sets and jells. That’s the finish.

“Any wise businessman takes inventory regularly. But his merchandise isn’t half as important as he is. Better take a bit of personal inventory. We all need it, and by keeping this check on ourselves, you’ll be much more likely to meet a splendid old fellow at the proper time. A fellow you’d like to be.”

As I think about the “Little Old Man” I hope to meet someday, I realize that every choice, every day, matters – and shapes the man I am becoming. The Scriptures frame it with clarity: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap” (Galatians 6:7).